Child Of Mine
by spacEnigma83
Summary: I didn't really want to write a story about "future happenings" but that didn't really stop me now did it? The little preview I saw on the ABC site gives us the allusion that Regina is going to keep Emma from getting Henry back and that brought on an idea for a story about Snow and Emma. So here it is... I can't wait for this winter break to be over! :)


Emma could not sleep, not after that encounter with Regina this morning. She made it very clear that Henry would be held up in the former mayor's mansion. "Until I figure out how to get him back." She thinks aloud.

She tried sleeping but worrying about Henry was too much. She needed a plan. She needed one fast otherwise who knows what Regina would do.

Magic, Good, Evil, it was nonstop since she broke the curse. If only she could magic away Regina or in the very least if Regina did not have magic at all. If only the curse breaking had not complicated things. At least battling Regina "The Mayor" would have been easier than taking on Regina "The Evil Queen".

She starts pacing her room. There was no way she was going to get any rest tonight. No way.

Suddenly she stops pacing. She feels this sudden urge to run downstairs to wake up Snow White. It wasn't so much that she wanted her help in finding a solution to a plan she just had this sudden yearning to run to her mother, which was a whole new experience, as she never had that before.

She takes a few steps towards the stairs having every intention of heading down but stops herself. "I'm not a child... and then when I wake her... what would I even say? Just forget it Swan."

She walks back over to sit on the edge of her bed. "I hate this! I hate feeling helpless." She sighs as she lets herself fall back on her bed, her feet hanging down to the floor.

She spends a few more minutes this way staring at the ceiling until finally she gets up to pace once more. After the pacing gets old she relents, "Ah forget it. I'm going down there."

She makes her way quickly but quietly down the stairs. She turns towards the space where Snow's bed is. She's afraid to pull the curtain back because she knows that both James and Snow are sleeping there together. Considering these were her parents she'd be a little uncomfortable walking in on... well... half naked parents. So again she stops herself and walks back up the stairs to her space.

This time she doesn't even bother lying on the bed. She immediately picks up where she left off in pacing her room. "I don't even know what's going through his mind right now. I mean he's pretty brave for a ten year old... but he's with the freaking Evil Queen. I wonder if he's afraid, I mean genuinely afraid. I wonder if he's thinking about me... wanting me to be there with him the way I want Snow to be here with me." She says to herself before suddenly arguing with herself, "I never wonder about crap like this? I'm turning into a wimp here." She suddenly throws her arms in the air at this realization.

"I'm not a child." She reminds herself again. "I can do this. I can figure this out and pick myself up."

She thinks again about Henry. She hadn't really got the chance to know him as well as she'd like. She spent most of her time trying not to get him in trouble with Regina when she first got there. She tried reaching out to him when he seemed inconsolable at times but it wasn't in a way either of them really needed it to be. She was missing out on being his mother and that's probably what upset her the most right now.

When the curse broke it was because of her love for Henry. She knew she loved him so that wasn't the question. The question was how could she possibly be his mother?

"I don't have time to be wondering about this right now." She says angrily to herself. "I have to save him. I'll figure the other stuff out later." She runs her hands through her hair trying to ease away the tension she's feeling but this wasn't working.

She makes her way toward the stairs again without stopping herself this time. She runs down the stairs and throws open the curtain to the space where her parents were sleeping. Luckily both parents are fully clothed and they seem to be in deep sleep. James with his arm draped over his head while his other arm hangs off the bed. Snow sleeping at the left side of the bed is a much more graceful sight to behold.

Emma goes around to Snow's side of the bed and stands there frozen. She's unsure now. If she wakes her up she'll have to give a reason as to why she came in. She didn't really have one. She wrings her hands together as she watches Snow sleeping peacefully. She doesn't have the heart to wake her. It didn't seem fair giving someone else a restless night. She steps a little closer to stare at her face a while wondering if this is how Henry might have felt in a similar situation. Wanting to be close but keeping your distance.

Slowly and quietly she walks back up the stairs with this last thought on her mind. Henry never pushed her to be his mother. In truth he gave her all the space she needed. "He's a smart kid." She says to herself as she walks toward the window to look out. "I bet he'd know what to do right now."

"Emma?" She hears from behind her. She turns to see Snow standing at the top of the stairs.

"I... What are you doing up?" She asks with a worried expression.

"Why did you come down?" Snow asks as she steps closer to Emma.

Suddenly feeling put on the spot she throws her eyes to the floor. "I... didn't..."

"I saw you walking away. Are you alright?" She whispers.

"Yeah, I just... I can't sleep." She says shrugging her shoulders.

"You're worried about Henry." It's a statement not a question.

"Of course I'm worried! He's with..." She realizes that she is shouting and lowers her voice before continuing, "He's with Regina... The Evil Queen."

Snow walks a little further into Emma's personal space as she still stands near the window. She reaches out to grasp Emma's arms, "As long as we don't threaten her he'll be safe. She is evil... but Henry is her weakness. She knows if she hurts him in any way she loses him. This gives us some time."

"Time for what? Time to pace and worry about all the ways she might terrorize him until we figure out how to get him back?" She asks with a wide-eyed look of desperation.

Snow rubs the arms she is still clutching and gives Emma a small smile. "We're going to figure this out but not by letting it eat away at us. Remember what Mary Margaret said?" Her smile grows as it is a bit silly she is referring to Mary Margaret as a separate person.

Emma smiles with the same notion. "No... What?"

"When people are supposed to be together, they find a way. We will find a way." She says before pulling Emma into a warm embrace. She reaches up to put a hand to the back of Emma's head so she doesn't try to get away from her. They stay like this for a moment longer before Snow pulls back and takes Emma by the hand. She walks over to the bed and lies down pulling Emma who only sits on the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Emma asks quietly.

"Come here." Snow says pulling at the hand she still held. When Emma somewhat resists she adds in an exasperated but playful way, "Just... let me be your mother."

Emma lets out a small chuckle before scooting in close and resting her head on Snow's shoulder.

Snow puts her lips to Emma's head and speaks quietly. "You know... you never have to give a reason for needing me."

"What are you..." Emma starts to ask.

"You walked away down there because you thought you would need to explain."

"How do you..." she is cut off again before she can finish her question.

"I was very small before she died but I still remember what it was like... to want your mother close when you can't seem to pick yourself up. It's perfectly natural as a child to want this."

"But I'm not a child." Emma states bluntly.

"You are a child... you are my child." At this she wraps Emma in her arms and feels the tension leave her body.

Emma does not argue only grateful that the night ended up how she secretly wished it would. All she needed now was to get Henry back, to be his mother, and to hold her own child in her arms this way.


End file.
